Politics, politics, politics (so long and thanks for all the fish)

[Gutter Boy]

I think everyone wants to phase out fossil. So that's not as radical as is made out. The only gradient you get from left to right is the pace of phase out and how much risk you are willing to carry re: energy costs and network stability in the transition. Also whether you're willing to continue actively exploring fossil while it is being phased out (i.e. the right such as Reform are in favour of new drilling and mining to max supply and economic growth and keep energy costs lower while the transition occurs).

I also think eco populism or extremism can have unintended consequences e.g.

UK: "we've closed down all our mining operations, aren't we green?"
Bolivia: "we've got more demand for exports of fossil materials to the UK, quick, chop down more of the amazon to get those mining operations expanded!"

There's a big reframing of it to be done. Showing clean energy to be about national security and permanently ending bills. No input is needed for wind and solar. Just harvesting our weather with small costs to maintain the infrastructure. Its a 1 off mission to solve energy forever, and it could be done within a decade

Most right and centre politicians are massively in the pockets of the oil lobby - its all about profit and greed

Imports would definitely need to be grouped in with domestically produced fossil fuels, to prevent the scenario you highlight. But we need real legally-binding targets like reducing the national consumption of fossil fuels 10% year-on-year

 

[Glenda's Legs]

Unfortunately for Angela Rayner she’s not rich enough to get away with trying to dodge tax.

 

[Silly McSilly Face]

There's a big reframing of it to be done. Showing clean energy to be about national security and permanently ending bills. No input is needed for wind and solar. Just harvesting our weather with small costs to maintain the infrastructure. Its a 1 off mission to solve energy forever, and it could be done within a decade

Most right and centre politicians are massively in the pockets of the oil lobby - its all about profit and greed

Imports would definitely need to be grouped in with domestically produced fossil fuels, to prevent the scenario you highlight. But we need real legally-binding targets like reducing the national consumption of fossil fuels 10% year-on-year

I think we have refuced consumption of fossil fuels quite considerably. In terms of clean energy being about national security we could do with ending the reliance on Chinese technology, materials and companies for green energy. Doesn't help that they're the only country able to produce mass-market affordable EVs for a reasonable profit margin either....

 

[Silly McSilly Face]

Unfortunately for Angela Rayner she’s not rich enough to get away with trying to dodge tax.

She certainly needs better advisors. If you're that bothered about tax then buying an £800k second home yourself not via a limited company or trust is amateur-hour!

 

[markysimmo]

She certainly needs better advisors. If you're that bothered about tax then buying an £800k second home yourself not via a limited company or trust is amateur-hour!

She knew exactly what she was doing !!

 

[Crab.C.Nesbitt]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1963285314241269768

Preach! Farage is a massive clam! As brick as the tories and Labour are I will still never vote for reform.

 

[Crab.C.Nesbitt]

She knew exactly what she was doing !!

Agree 100%.

But let’s say she didn’t know. That is still unacceptable because it shows such poor judgement. Someone this misguided / ignorant is not suitable/sufficiently competent to be the deputy pm.

 

[markysimmo]

Agree 100%.

But let’s say she didn’t know. That is still unacceptable because it shows such poor judgement. Someone this misguided / ignorant is not suitable/sufficiently competent to be the deputy pm.

Remember this is the second time she has pleaded her innocence and blamed bad advice

 

[Muttley]

She certainly needs better advisors. If you're that bothered about tax then buying an £800k second home yourself not via a limited company or trust is amateur-hour!

It's all a bit strange. It sound like the divorcing couple have managed to keep the Manchester home, set up a lifelong trust for the lifelong disabled child and she has managed to afford the down payment on an £800k home, assumedly with a mortgage. This is on top of her having a grace-and-favour flat in London based on her role in the government.

I get the feeling she thinks her final destination is East Sussex and therefore decided she wasn't liable to act like any other second home situation like buy-to-let. Therefore she broke the rules and did the self pity city thing on herself. I'm glad she got caught.

 

[Gutter Boy]

I think second homes are pretty abominable and should be heavily disincentivised and penalised through taxation. But i would always give people a year's grace to sort their affairs out in the case of either a relationship breakdown and inheritance.

 

[Silly McSilly Face]

It's all a bit strange. It sound like the divorcing couple have managed to keep the Manchester home, set up a lifelong trust for the lifelong disabled child and she has managed to afford the down payment on an £800k home, assumedly with a mortgage. This is on top of her having a grace-and-favour flat in London based on her role in the government.

I get the feeling she thinks her final destination is East Sussex and therefore decided she wasn't liable to act like any other second home situation like buy-to-let. Therefore she broke the rules and did the self pity city thing on herself. I'm glad she got caught.

Definitely think her final destination is going to be a safer seat in the south. Her current seat is currently predicted to fall to Reform in 2029 and I think we'll see a similar game of musical chairs with other senior Labour figures over the next few years if they can't arrest the polling.

 

[Crab.C.Nesbitt]

Unfortunately for Angela Rayner she’s not rich enough to get away with trying to dodge tax.

Don’t think it’s that. Personally I’d like all tax evasion and avoidance to be cracked down on. We don’t need to raise taxes, just collect the taxes that are due from mega wealthy individuals and corporations properly

Rayner was one of the more vocal critics of others but she is a hypocrite and someone who fails to take personal responsibility and accountability when caught out.

This is now the second time she’s done it. Fool me once etc

 

[Silly McSilly Face]

Don’t think it’s that. Personally I’d like all tax evasion and avoidance to be cracked down on. We don’t need to raise taxes, just collect the taxes that are due from mega wealthy individuals and corporations properly

Rayner was one of the more vocal critics of others but she is a hypocrite and someone who fails to take personal responsibility and accountability when caught out.

This is now the second time she’s done it. Fool me once etc

Yeah just for example, she was raging at Nadim Zahawi placing assets into a trust - she's done exactly the same thing! Its the hypocrisy thats going to kill her in terms of public perception not the tax dodge itself.

The other thing is how this transaction and the tax affairs came into the public domain. As some are speculating it must have been leaked by someone with knowledge of the transaction. Which suggests that she knew exactly what the cr*k was. And that she's pis*ed off some people close to her.

 

[markysimmo]

Don’t think it’s that. Personally I’d like all tax evasion and avoidance to be cracked down on. We don’t need to raise taxes, just collect the taxes that are due from mega wealthy individuals and corporations properly

Rayner was one of the more vocal critics of others but she is a hypocrite and someone who fails to take personal responsibility and accountability when caught out.

This is now the second time she’s done it. Fool me once etc

Just another scumbag who is on the gravy train, she should be sacked and made an example of but we all know it's not going to happen is it
Will be ignored and swept under the carpet like it has been in this thread from most of our lefty friends in here

 

[markysimmo]

Yeah just for example, she was raging at Nadim Zahawi placing assets into a trust - she's done exactly the same thing! Its the hypocrisy thats going to kill her in terms of public perception not the tax dodge itself

Also using her disabled son's NHS compensation to pay for it too, then try to not pay the correct taxes on that purchase

 

[Muttley]

I think second homes are pretty abominable and should be heavily disincentivised and penalised through taxation. But i would always give people a year's grace to sort their affairs out in the case of either a relationship breakdown and inheritance.

I assume you saw what I wrote above? The previous government put in some great policies to disincentivise buy-to-let landlords.

The big 3 deterrents are:

1) Stamp Duty - made this additional to over and above what you pay on a property purchase. They first introduced 3% extra in about 2017 and recently put it up to 5%

2) Tax to HMRC - from about 2016 they phased out over 5 years the ability to offset your mortgage against your tax. It's now rent less allowable expenses that you pay tax on and most landlords are in the 40% or even 45% tax bracket. This creates significant money for the treasury.

3) Interest rates - loads of landlords use interest only mortgages. Once interest rates went up, this crippled landlords. Mine went from £350 a month to £800 when I remortgaged. This one wasn't so much of a planned policy deterrent rather than a natural one.

So find me a private landlord that can make money on a minimum 25% deposit (mandatory) with these 3 parameters. I'll give the Tories due credit. They did to private landlords exactly what you're asking. The only way you can make any money now is if house prices shoot up. Even then, when you sell you are subject to 40% capital gains tax on the profit. So there is no way you can make money.

Here's the big problem though. A large chunk of buy-to-let properties in the UK aren't owned by private individuals like myself. They are owned by companies who are getting the offset tax advantages. There is now a massive shift from private individuals to companies and about 74% of new purchases for buy-to-let purposes are now companies. The private individuals who are normally good landlords are being forced out of the market, yet we're not seeing the equivalent disincentives against the companies. I think that is because we Brexited and the government are scared to disincentivise businesses in the UK for a while.

I would also say that if you own your own house then you're in good shape. If you want second homes banned and put back in the market place then you should be prepared for your own house value to plummet. That is is the impact of what that supply and demand model would do. It would create mass negative equity in the UK. That's why we're seeing the long game from the different governments.

 

[harr1984]

Also using her disabled son's NHS compensation to pay for it too, then try to not pay the correct taxes on that purchase

I must say in the many instances that Labour have already fudged up it is funny how much quieter it is on these pages compared to when the Tories were found out for any wrong doing - there would be page after page on how outrageous it all was. As has been said all along, they are all as bad as one another and many people have already expressed their regret at their 'Anyone but the Tories' reason for voting for Labour.

I am not biased towards any party because they are all full of it, but the chickens are coming home to roost with Labour and thankfully they will not be in power for long one way or another.....

 

[kb 1984]

I must say in the many instances that Labour have already fudged up it is funny how much quieter it is on these pages compared to when the Tories were found out for any wrong doing - there would be page after page on how outrageous it all was. As has been said all along, they are all as bad as one another and many people have already expressed their regret at their 'Anyone but the Tories' reason for voting for Labour.

I am not biased towards any party because they are all full of it, but the chickens are coming home to roost with Labour and thankfully they will not be in power for long one way or another.....

I no longer vote until they start telling the truth that's the way it's going to stay & because i choose not to vote i get to pay a fine. the fudgers will do anything to get your money

 

[Gutter Boy]

I assume you saw what I wrote above? The previous government put in some great policies to disincentivise buy-to-let landlords.

The big 3 deterrents are:

1) Stamp Duty - made this additional to over and above what you pay on a property purchase. They first introduced 3% extra in about 2017 and recently put it up to 5%

2) Tax to HMRC - from about 2016 they phased out over 5 years the ability to offset your mortgage against your tax. It's now rent less allowable expenses that you pay tax on and most landlords are in the 40% or even 45% tax bracket. This creates significant money for the treasury.

3) Interest rates - loads of landlords use interest only mortgages. Once interest rates went up, this crippled landlords. Mine went from £350 a month to £800 when I remortgaged. This one wasn't so much of a planned policy deterrent rather than a natural one.

So find me a private landlord that can make money on a minimum 25% deposit (mandatory) with these 3 parameters. I'll give the Tories due credit. They did to private landlords exactly what you're asking. The only way you can make any money now is if house prices shoot up. Even then, when you sell you are subject to 40% capital gains tax on the profit. So there is no way you can make money.

Here's the big problem though. A large chunk of buy-to-let properties in the UK aren't owned by private individuals like myself. They are owned by companies who are getting the offset tax advantages. There is now a massive shift from private individuals to companies and about 74% of new purchases for buy-to-let purposes are now companies. The private individuals who are normally good landlords are being forced out of the market, yet we're not seeing the equivalent disincentives against the companies. I think that is because we Brexited and the government are scared to disincentivise businesses in the UK for a while.

I would also say that if you own your own house then you're in good shape. If you want second homes banned and put back in the market place then you should be prepared for your own house value to plummet. That is is the impact of what that supply and demand model would do. It would create mass negative equity in the UK. That's why we're seeing the long game from the different governments.

Thanks that's really interesting.

My goal would be to taper out all private renting, especially the big companies you mention. My method would be through rent caps. This worked very successfully 100 years ago. I agree all house values will drop, but that's what you ultimately want to achieve - to get (first) home ownership back affordable again, back to its traditional 3x annual salary level

 

[Grays_1890]

Agree 100%.

But let’s say she didn’t know. That is still unacceptable because it shows such poor judgement. Someone this misguided / ignorant is not suitable/sufficiently competent to be the deputy pm.

She is toast or should be, you can't be a socialist government and carry this, just does not fit.

That said Keir is a whelk and I doubt he will act.

Sooner David Miliband swallows his pride to save the party the better, I jest as I know that ships sailed, but he would be the only option for me